Pay the Price (Human AU)
by Phoenix Dreamer Star
Summary: An enemy from Marionette's past finally comes back to pay his friends a visit, what lengths will Marionette go to protect his friends from deranged monster? He knows this will come at a price, anything for his friends however.


**Pay the Price**

* * *

"**You're such a fluffy little bunny...**"

Bon squirmed only to have him tighten his grip on his neck, making his body numb from the lack of oxygen, he was still keeping him conscious but stopping him from fighting back.

"**Little Cotton tail... Big ears... Gorgeous eyes...**"

"P-Please... No..." He croaked out with fat tears rolling down his face.

"**You and your friends should consider it a great honour to be in my presences... The fact I've visited your group should be celebrated**."

Bon continued to whimper, which displeased him. His crooked smile turned into a withering scowl.

"**You know... You... I heard your the best singer, why don't you sing? Oh actually... I have a much better idea**."

Bon was slammed down against the table, no one could even help him, his neck was still being chocked, he had began weakly rasping for any form of breath.

"**I assume you've never been dominated... What better way than to hear your voice?**"

Bon went still, his tears intensified.

"No! Leave him alone!" Teddy cried out.

He distastefully clicked his tongue in a disapproving matter, "**Keep yer trap shut Teddy Bear**."

"No! I won't! Who are you?! Why are you doing this?" Teddy couldn't figure out who this strange black haired, muscly man who entered his restaurant. He wasn't a man however, he had sharp teeth and piercing red eyes, Teddy would compare him to the stereotypical image of a demon which was often seen at Halloween. However, this was too real, he came in and started all this, scaring Teddy when he realised this man had some sort of power, not only that but he had bad intentions. Now it was too late.

"**Hm**..." He smirked, "**Ten years ago, you offered shelter to a man on a stormy day... What you could never believe was the fact he was a Magical Entity, and in exchange for your kindness and generosity, he offered to grant one wish. You asked for the safety and happiness of all children because you came from a rough background and never wanted any child to suffer like you had... I admit... It... Sickly sweet**..." He gagged on the word sweet.

"**He's made himself at home here... And I never would have found him if it wasn't for the wish you made... You... You alone left a trail to find him... I've been spending countless years trying to find my old friend, and you ensured I would. What seems to be funny is the fact I haven't found him... Has he run off? No... He will surely come back...**"

He used his claws and squeezed Bon's cheeks, "**If I make one of you hurt in a way he can't fix...**"

"If you need to do that to anyone... Do it to me! Not Bon! I brought him here! That's fair!" Teddy yelled, he was the type of friend who would rather die to ensure their safety, when one was friends with Teddy, it meant he considered them almost close to family.

"**Hello to playing fair. I don't play fair.**" He then cackled, it was a strange sound that made Teddy tremble like a ghost had just passed right through him.

Bon tried to get away again, but he slammed his head down with impressive force, "**Hold still you stupid bitch and it won't hurt!**"

Bon was shaking his head obviously disorient from the hit, he felt this guy move his hand down his spine, before he lend down on top of him and whispered in his ear, "**I like to play rough with my new toys... So I might leave a few tears...**"

Bon was shivering, Teddy was helplessly struggling in the binds he was trapped in, no one could help them. Mangle was locked in a giant present trying to get out but finding it impossible. Teddy could hear her trying to kick or punch it open every few minutes, it was big enough to fit her, but didn't seem to have any way for her to breath, Teddy worried she wasn't trying to break out so much meant she was slowly suffocating. Chi was completely frozen, her eyes could still move but her body was still in a position where she had tried to get pass Nightmare to reach a phone and call for help when he waved his hand and she ceased movement. Balloon Boy was trapped in binds next to him, also struggling but looking far more confused as to why this was happening.

"No! Let go of me!" Bon wailed as loudly as he could, but there wasn't a point, Teddy's brothers were at their own place and Teddy foolishly left his phone in the office at the back of the building where it was in no way accessible. He wanted to think that Freddy and his childhood best friend, former marine, and now stage performer, Foxy was trailing behind him, ready to fight, he heard the man had once fought five men at once.

"Please don't watch this Billy." Teddy urged the ten year old, even if he couldn't stop it, he didn't want him to see this happening, he too wanted to shut his eyes but could not destroy the mental images he was getting. He started to cry, with it all dawning on him that he couldn't stop or even safe Bon, and Bon was being punished for trying to sneak out of the kitchen and get Teddy's phone, which failed.

"_That's enough Nightmare!_" In a flash, Marionette appeared in front of his box, in his hand, a scary looking knife appeared.

"**Aaahh, here you are**." Marionette seemed different, he was rarely angry and the angriest Teddy saw him was that one time involving a teenager who was persistently abusive to staff, particularly to Mangle, who had some obvious body imperfections which included a fake eye and a badly mutilated hand that didn't seem function correctly, among other things. That didn't even compare. Marionette was clutching a strange knife Teddy had never seen before which had a black blade with an orange glowing outline that made it look it had been created in a volcanic eruption, the handle appears wooden but Teddy couldn't tell, he did see his face was full of so much fury and rage.

"_Don't you dare rape Bon. I will kill you otherwise._"

"**I'm already dying thanks to you. We need to address that.**"

"_I am not speaking you to about that! Let my friends go, they have no involvement with us!_"

"**As much as I'd pay a favour to you, considering you're the reason why my death clock is ticking, I'm gonna say no**."

"_You need to leave, before my friends arrive._"

"**Your friends... Oh don't tell me you're still friends with Gold, Spring and Lefty? They are losers. You can do better than the Outcast, the Bisexual Rabbit and the Freak show**."

"_They aren't freaks. I have to remind you the last time I banished you_."

"**Oh yes, you recruited the famous monster hunter brothers to try and banish me, unsuccessful, but it made me lose my scent on you, you were able to flee Dallas without being chased. Do you still keep in contact with those two boys?**"

"_Piss off."_

"**You know... I could do it again... Take Bon away like how I took your girlfriend away.**"

Marionette had a girlfriend? Teddy wondered, He never heard it being mentioned, then again, Marionette had even as so much as mentioned who he family was, where he lived before and other personal details.

"_Athena wasn't my girlfriend._"

"**Then why did you cry so much when you could no longer find her? Do you know where she is? I thought it would be ironic to place her in the same location where you found me... She's obviously no longer alive.**"

"_Athena was my friend, what you're doing is just eating up the time until my friends get here_."

"**I ain't leaving, and you should know, considering I killed Athena, Ramon and Fung, you should know I am capable of killing you and your friends.**" He smirked, his lips open so his teeth were visible, it was a wall of sharp white teeth, the sharpest thing that had ever been seen, shark teeth didn't seem to compare those pearly whites.

"_But you don't do it because you're scared of getting your arse kicked, you'll always take on people you can win against. You never truly take a risk because you're a coward_."

Nightmare didn't lose that stupid confident "shit-eating" grin, "**I know you wouldn't risk these guys, I could easily break his neck using my hands or between my teeth.**"

"_You need to leave them alone!_"

"**Oh I will... Listen up and you'll hear what brilliant, easy way you can save them. I know you want to. Because I'm dying, I need to find someway to live on, I figured it out not so long ago what I can do, if I transfer my self conscious into an object, I can find a new Host, but that method can expire if a Host isn't found within a twenty four hour period of leaving my body. I can die quicker essentially**."

"_How is this relevant?_"

"**Is it obvious? My soul won't tolerate just any host vessel. They need to be able to handle me.**"

"_You have realised, you have just told me, a way I can kill you quicker?_"

"**Did you say cut off at the neck? It would be an honour!**" Nightmare went back to brutally chocking Bon, this time nearly tearing his long claws into his neck, he made a squeak sound.

"_ENOUGH_!"

"**You know what I'm asking. Don't worry, it'll be painless, and I'll completely vanish, what you want.**"

"_But I will no longer exist._"

"**Not completely true, once my soul fuses with yours, a new entity is created, you will still exist, just not as Marionette**."

Teddy suddenly realised.

"No! Don't do that! No!"

"**SILENCES**!"

Marionette silently wondered, he looked at Teddy, then Bon, then Nightmare, who smirked and shook his head, "**Do we have a deal? Like I said. We won't exist separately, you will become a nightmare. Not Marionette, not Me... I think... Night... Nightmarionne**."

Marionette thought, "_Let everyone free before I accept._"

"**As you wish, Marionette**." Nightmare snapped his fingers, Teddy's binds loosen and fell down, Chi moved her head which signalled she had body movement, Mangle reappeared next to him, Billy looked at Teddy unsure. Nightmare threw Bon aside, Bon then scrambled off the floor and ran towards Teddy and hid behind him, he was still shivering, obviously he would not easily get over this.

"**Get rid of the knife before I go hunting for yer friends!**"

Nightmare had finally beaten Marionette into a corner, Marionette was good taking him on alone, he even liked help, but only from those who knew how much of a little bastard Nightmare was. It rolled in Marionette's mind that Nightmare was both impulsive and dangerous when it had been set off by something that upset him, delaying his requests could backfire, this knife could protect him, but he couldn't cast a strong enough protection spell on his friends quick enough should Nightmare lose his temper and want to go on a killing spree. He was unprepared to be attacked, he knew however, Nightmare was honest, his word was his honour, within a blink of an eye, the knife magically vanished.

"**My hat...**" Nightmare took his big yellow top hat off, "**Hold onto the rim.**"

Marionette wordlessly obeyed, with his friends being the concern here. Nightmare had his hands planted on the top.

"**This simple object that represents my connections to the better folk in town, will now become apart of you, as I will be come apart of you, we shall be complete and new, something unexpected, and something, far more dangerous.**"

Hearing the last words didn't even make Marionette flinch, but Teddy knew what he was giving up, "Don't do this! You don't need to! Just wait for your friends!"

Marionette seemed too far gone to see a way out, even if Gold would intercept his distress message, he would take time to arrive, he could not time Nightmare's patience.

"**Now... Repeat the words you hear in your head very, very clearly like a good student.**"

Marionette spoke aloud in some Latin chat, "_Concedo licentiam enim corpus meum, ut sese cum anima, quae in hoc obiectum, Accipio virtutes ego ero praeditos, ut a praecessi of in re Ego patitur corpus meum mutare in forma Accipio ego perdet memoria mea, et effusus haec forma ad creare novum bestia Nightmarionne_."

"**Goodbye**." Nightmare spoke suddenly turning black and ashy, before finally just vanishing in the wind, which now seemed colder, Marionette stared at the yellow hat, thinking maybe he could lock it up, but he tried to move his hands only to find he couldn't remove his hands from it, then he saw a red thin thread around his wrists which connected to the hat. He was physically tied to it, he couldn't get rid of it, he stood wondering what would happen next. Until it suddenly turned black and morphed into a white porcelain mask that would obviously fit perfectly on his face.

"Marionette?" Teddy asked.

"**Hurry up Marion... I can't wait to become Nightmarionne... You'll learn to love who we are... Perfect... Now put it on... You have no choice... You accepted**." He heard Nightmare speaking.

The world seem to get darker, Marionette felt he was colder, he wondered if Nightmare had already taken control of him, because now he unexplainably experiencing a strong urge to put this mask on.

"_I want to still help people_." Marionette put it on his face, it felt cold and seem to darken his vision. Immediately after that, black goo started to consume him, dripping down the mask and onto his body, so much so that, his form was being disintegrated. He looked in horror as his hand was eaten up and slowly melted then fell off.

"_O-Oh God, T-This hurts_!" He fell to his knees, as soon as his body hit the ground, it exploded and completely melted into a thick black mess, the mask wasn't even seen anymore.

Teddy ran over and looked at the mess, he wanted to see Marionette, anything to see if he was alright. He reached down, not even touching it when a clawed hand suddenly latched onto his wrist firmly. Teddy screamed and couldn't break it, he tried to pull it away, only for it to seeming stretch out in a big mess.

Bon and Mangle tried to pull him away, watching the shape grow tall and turn into almost a Skelton, then the goo washed away.

"M-Marionette?" Teddy asked the strange tall man.

The man opened his lips and revealed a lot of thin sharp teeth, his sharp white slits glaring into him with such a strange force that Teddy almost felt like he was going to completely decay.

"_**Nightmarionne**_." A strange voice answered, and for a brief second, a blood red glow took over his white pupils, his mouth opened to reveal so many sharp teeth and Teddy could see in these new eyes.

Marionette wasn't a prisoner or hostage.

No one with empathy existed in this new monster.

* * *

**Strange AU concept that became one shot.**

**I have an AU where one of the main events is Nightmare and Marionette becoming one new entity which is "Nightmarionne", who has Marionette's ability to cast spells but Nightmare's demented personality, which can be twisted with Marionette's knowledge. I feel like this Nightmarionne's inspired song would be "Landmine" by Three Days Grace.**

**Hope you enjoyed! I probably won't write about this AU again unless I get an idea, considering how bad my mental health is currently (seriously... I am struggling).**


End file.
